Nadzmi To Remain BAM President Until 2013

SHAH ALAM, Dec 30 — Incumbent president Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Salleh will continue to head Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) until 2013 after being returned unopposed at the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) here on Wednesday.

Mohd Nadzmi who took over from Datuk Dr Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan in 2000 said there was still much work to be done and success achieved although the sport of badminton had already achieved success in major competitions.

"In years to come, there are still many targets to be achieved," he told reporters after the AGM.

Badminton is among four sports identified and placed under the "Road To London 2012" programme, aimed at winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal.

Eight shuttlers are included in the programme, including world number one and 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medallist Datuk Lee Chong Wei.

Mohd Nadzmi said is would not be easy to become a world power in badminton due to the number of players in Malaysia and the financial constraints compared with China.

"We managed to win a silver in Beijing and the next is to set a higher target. Malaysia will also host the Thomas Cup next year and hopes remain high for Malaysia to recapture past glory," he said.

He added that shuttlers would also be facing a number of major competitions next year, including the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi (Oct), Asian Games in Guangzhou, China (Nov) and the World Championships.

Meanwhile, Tengku Kamil Tengku Idris Shah replaced Datuk Roland Wong as the deputy president while Ganga Rao remained as the Honorary Secretary although he had earlier hinted of relinquishing his post.